The mechanized placement of integrated circuit devices on printed circuit boards for soldering has resulted in a decrease in the labor costs associated with assembling electronic devices. The placement of integrated circuit devices has typically involved what are generically referred to as "pick and place" methods. In these methods a tool is positioned over the integrated circuit device to be placed on the printed circuit board and "picked up". The tool then "places" the integrated circuit device at the correct position on the printed circuit. The integrated circuit device is then soldered in position. The pick and place tool typically relies upon the strength of the leads of the integrated circuit device to provide the proper contact between the integrated circuit device leads and the printed circuit board. This is, the pick and place tool, which is holding the body of the integrated circuit device lowers the integrated circuit device until the leads are pressed against the printed circuit board. The resilience of the leads causes the leads to make a good contact with the printed circuit board during soldering.
With the advent of thin or fragile lead integrated circuit devices, which have less resilience in their leads, the usual pick and place tools do not produce the proper contact between the integrated circuit device leads and the printed circuit board. Instead, the soldering devices themselves have been used to assure the proper contact during the soldering operation. Such devices are typically only used once and fabricate.
The present invention relates to a novel integrated circuit device support tool which provides the proper amount of contact between the fragile leads of an integrated circuit device and the printed circuit board, while permitting the device to be soldered using non-contact radiative or convective techniques.